A Handmade Christmas

Here are some of the handmade gifts that I've tried, most of them inspired by my Gift Ideas board on Pinterest. Some are wildly successful, others . . . not so much. You be the judge. Maybe they will inspire you, too!

A Handmade Christmas: More Time than Money

Quitting my job just before Christmas was probably not a great idea if I planned to spoil my loved ones. However, it does mean I actually have time and enough spare energy so I can make at least part of our gifts.




Crockpot Cinnamon Almonds - FAIL

Pinterest: we have a failure. Signal the "womp, womp, womp" sound effect.

I'm a sucker for recipes that use slow cookers, because they always imply that the machine is doing the work. So when I saw a recipe for Crock Pot Cinnamon Almonds, I was game to give it a go.



Fizzy Bath Bombs

Many recipes include how much prep time and how much cooking time are required. Very few give a "patience" rating. In this case, the patience factor led to an almost fail. It's the one ingredient I couldn't pick up at Bulk Barn.

UPDATE: The powder formed a huge bath bomb, requiring a spoon to dig it out. FAIL.



Lemon Body Scrub

Earlier this month I told you that I was planning on making a number of our Christmas gifts this year. Now that some of those gifts have been given, I can share the stories.





Facial Mush

Feeling pretty confident after my foray into Pinterest-inspired gift-making, after successfully making a lemon body scrub, I decided to keep steaming along and make the moisturizing oatmeal facial mask, which I am calling facial mush.







Hot Chocolate

Having recently discovered the joy of real hot chocolate, I thought it would be good to give some of the men in my family a home-made, real, hot chocolate kit.





 
Santa Hat Party Mix

One of the nice things about handmade gifts is that you can tailor them to the recipient. In our case, our daughters both have gluten and dairy sensitivities, which makes a lot of snack foods off limits.

When I saw this adorable recipe with Santa hats, I decided to give it a shot, especially for Katie who has always had a love of Santa hats.



Sugar & Spice Pecans

Unlike my disastrous experience with Crockpot Almonds, this recipe is tried and true. I've made these spiced pecans at least half a dozen times.They are tasty, crunchy, won't damage your dental work, and they don't take five hours.





The Healthiest Gift

After I added up the cost of making the Santa Hat Party Mix, and the cost of throwing out an entire pound of almonds, I decided that it might be wiser for me to just BUY the danged gifts.

Caramel Popcorn

I was a little frightened of this recipe, which called for me to make my own caramel - something I had never done before. Turns out, it's easy-peasy, and the results are delicious!